Coryn Expected to Block Hillary Voice-Vote Confirmation

January 20, 2009

The Inauguration’s a love-fest so far, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some non-non-partisan politics going on in Washington. Republican John Cornyn of Texas will reportedly block a unanimous voice-vote confirmation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Senate today, though the other nominees are expected to sail through. (Well, at least they planned to go back to work.) Coryn’s office just says “Senator Cornyn is a strong proponent of complete transparency” — which he presumably does not feel we’re getting from Clinton, whose husband has fingers in many international pies — and is “keeping all of his options on the table.” That probably just means there’ll be some hugger-mugger and a roll-call confirmation vote, but Representative Anthony Weiner still disapproves. “On a day of optimism and commitments of bipartisan cooperation,” Weiner says, “Senator Cornyn is being petty… Senator Cornyn seems committed to delaying the creation of President Obama’s national security team. It’s a shame.”